The Golden State Warriors caught a loss over the weekend, as the defending champions walked into Houston and fell to the Rockets, 116-108. It wasn’t an especially stunning defeat or anything — the second-best team in the NBA hosted the best team in the NBA and won — but it still led to some having confidence in Houston’s ability to beat Golden State in the postseason. In fact, P.J. Tucker straight up said he believes the Rockets possess the “perfect team” to take down the Warriors.
On the heels of the loss, Warriors coach Steve Kerr gave a glimpse into what he believes should probably be the team’s “No. 1 goal” for the rest of the year: Making sure the team ends up with the best record in the league, meaning Golden State will have home court advantage throughout the postseason.
“We always emphasize home court. We know how tough it is to win at Oracle for an opposing team,” Kerr said, according to The Mercury News. “We know the importance of having a Game 7 at home. We talk about it every year.”
The Warriors have shown in the past that it takes an opponent playing near-perfect basketball to beat them at Oracle Arena in the playoffs. While Kevin Durant said the team wants “to be playing good basketball when it comes down to that point,” Kerr is smart to play the long game.
